Transparency Is A Nice Theory but A Difficult Practice

Last Saturday a group of concerned and web-savvy Italian citizens met in Rome to give birth to a new political party (named “Insieme Italia”, i.e. “Italia Together”). The new party aims at “building shared strategies and actions to get out of the social and economic crisis that besiege the country” Associates have to accept a code of ethics that stipulates their independence from existing political parties and other concerns that might distract them from defending collective interests. Transparency and participation are said to be at the core of the new party to make sure ideas and plans are developed collegially.

Interestingly enough, the party’s brand new web site and Facebook page do not carry any information about the background for this idea, who the actual promoters and current roles are, nor is there any evidence yet that this information will be released any time soon. Although this is a small example, it says a lot about the difference between preaching and adopting transparency.

While some caution in embracing full transparency by established organizations is understandable (as they try to understand the potential disrupting impact on the mission, operation and structure), such caution is much more surprising in a brand new entity that claims its difference from previous ways of doing politics and centers its messaging around participation.

Transparency is a great tool, but comes with a high price: the loss of control. If our clients, citizens, voters see through our walls as in a glass house, so that they can tell us what is wrong, what to change and who to change, are we ready to take their advice? Are we ready to disrupt our plans? Are we ready to step aside? The common wisdom is that social media is disruptive only for traditional organizations.

The reality is it can disrupt each and every one of us. Are we willing to listen? UPDATE: Less than 48 hours after its creation the Facebook page of the newly formed party “Insieme Italia” has removed the ability for Facebook users to post comments, and allows only posts from the administrator, claiming that this measure was requested by Facebook Inc. Here goes transparency.
by Andrea Di Maio  |  January 30, 2012  |http://blogs.gartner.com

‘The missing piece in a smart government’

Chinese evening newspaper Lianhe Wanbao broke the story on CPIB's probe of two top-ranking government officials. …

It was a memorable and bold moment in Singapore journalism. Earlier this week, a dogged reporter's patience and persistence combined with a brave editor's decision to throw caution to the wind ended in an exclusive that brought back memories of the good old days of old-fashioned reporting — and put the government in an embarrassing spot.

The Chinese evening newspaper, Lianhe Wanbao, went ahead with a report on the corruption investigations into the activities of two top public service officers — Singapore Civil Defence Force chief Peter Lim Sin Pang and Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay — without a government confirmation.

It named names and gave details, like the involvement of a woman in the scandal, knowing fully well that there was a chance — a very small chance, maybe — that it could get some important details wrong. When the government statement came — on the same day but after the paper had published the report — the news had already caught fire with the on-line world hammering out posts and reports and raising pointed issues that ranged from transparency to arrogance.

The most damaging statement, unintended though it was, came from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. In response to media queries, it said that the narcotics man was arrested on Dec 19 and the civil defence boss on Jan 4, many days before the government put out its statement on Jan 24.

It was too long a lapse and was made worse by the rapid-fire news cycle punishing even those who take a couple of hours to come out with its side of the story. Why this long delay? In response to a query by The Straits Times, the government said the investigations are continuing and "it is only fair that we accord the officers assisting with investigations a fair hearing in accordance with the civil service disciplinary process and the law."

It is understandable that you want to give those involved, especially when the investigations are still on-going, a good shot at fair play. That occasion passed when the two were arrested. That was the moment when officialdom should have bitten the bullet and said: The tipping point has been reached. And we have to go public with the story.

But it remained silent until the unlikeliest of sources — the traditional media, fed by a regular diet of press releases and official speeches — put the story in the public domain. The end result: A government caught with its back against the wall and in a reactive mode.

High pay and low corruption

When the Parliamentary debate on political salaries took place from Jan 16 to 18, the one critical point that never came up was that of a clean Cabinet and civil service. The silence on this issue was understandable because corruption in high places in government is extremely rare.

But this new development, where two very senior public service officials were under investigation for "serious personal misconduct", could have been brought up and could have added a new dimension to the debate. The salary-corruption link is important.

High pay was one way to discourage officials from wanting to have their palms greased. Lee Kuan Yew highlighted that point when he pushed vigorously for top salaries. No reasonable-minded Singaporean would have expected a corrupt-free public service, even with high pay; those who want to get round the laws will always find loopholes to exploit. But you can make sure that corruption cases are as rare as possible. And that corrupt officials, once exposed, will face the full brunt of the law. Even ministers have not been spared.

Former National Development Minister Teh Cheang Wan, who was praised by Lee Kuan Yew a number of times, chose to end his life when he faced the heat of an unyielding group of anti-corruption officers way back in the 1980s.

Making the CPIB report directly to the PMO gives them the latitude and freedom to investigate even the high and mighty without too many encumbrances. All these could have made the Parliamentary debate more meaningful and relevant.

But an opportunity to explain the historical backdrop and context to Singapore's war on corruption was lost. The ruling party kept silent; so did the Opposition. I am more inclined to sympathise with the members of the Opposition because there was no way for them to have information on the latest investigations.

Lessons not learnt

Since GE 2011, the government seems to be on its backfoot with communication blunders becoming a regular occurrence. From the Mas Selamat case (official statement was issued four hours after the terrorist escaped from the Internal Security Department's detention centre) to the wrong signatures on YOG appreciation certificates (Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said that it was an embarrassment but not a disaster) to the PAP's electoral defeat in Aljunied (Lee Kuan Yew warned residents that they will repent if Opposition won), it is clear that the government has yet to get a handle on how to communicate effectively in a new world. That is really strange.

This is not a stupid government, it has done a lot of good things for its people, it is respected overseas and its model of governance is highly sought after. Yet, one of the basic attributes of a smart government -- squaring with its citizens and carrying them along -- seems to be missing.

P N Balji has more than 35 years experience as a journalist. He is now a media consultant.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com

E-gate provides service for voters

The official “e-gate” website with cooperation of Ministry of Interior have provided a service for voters to inquire about their information through registration number. The service is put by Ministry of Interior, to offer the voter’s information, regarding the name and place of constituency headquarters, said head of the e-government in Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT), Dr Ittihad Al-Bahar.

The service simplifies the voter’s usage of gathering information through entering their ID number or ministry of interior reference number, she added. Al-Bahar pointed out that the service aims to prepare the parliamentary elections that being held on the second of February to support the efforts of government and neutrality to the elections.

The CAIT is responsible of granting citizens services to strengthen the electoral and democratic process in Kuwait, she noted. Al-Bahar called for all voters to view the information services through the e-gate or ministry of interior website.

.kuwaittimes.net

Public sector ICT in ASEAN: a tale of five cities

The FutureGov team has spent much of the last few months on the road. My colleagues have been busy travelling to Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong and mainland China - and I’ve had the good fortune to catch up with over 120 government officials in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, The Philippines and most recently Thailand.

Part of this time was invested in recruiting journalists and researchers, to beef up FutureGov’s Country Intelligence Reports. This is an emerging area of focus for FutureGov as we look to distil the hundreds of conversations we have with senior officials in Asia Pacific in to monthly market assessments.

We now have specialists covering Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China - and are about to put the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle in place with the recruitment of an analyst covering Malaysia.

This has helped us really increase our bandwidth to cooperate with governments in the region - an example of which is the work we’re now doing with the Department of Communications and Informatics, the State Ministry of Research & Technology, and the National ICT Council in Indonesia, as part of our fourth annual FutureGov event in Indonesia, as well as on their data centre consolidation plans in a number of agencies.

The work of Ministry of Finance, as well as the Immigration Department is particularly noteworthy - and underlines that the country’s highly decentralised bureaucracy is still capable of delivering major transformation programmes.

Despite progress on the recruitment front, the primary reason for my travels was simply to sit down and directly discuss the plans of senior officials. I’m lucky enough, after eight years with FutureGov, to have ended up with a role that satisfies my twin passions: coffee & curiosity. And as always, if you ask enough questions, patterns emerge.

I’ll be sharing more detailed assessments of individual agencies in the coming months in FutureGov’s country-by-country reports, but here’s a few observations from six weeks living out of a suitcase:

Politics is local, but… One of the reasons I’ve stayed in the region for the last 14 years is that I fell in love with the cultural diversity of Asia in general, and ASEAN in particular. So it follows that searching for commonalities between differing bureaucratic cultures would be a fool’s errand. And yet if you scratch the surface - the key countries of ASEAN are looking to create greater value from their interactions, through a mixture of information leverage and automation, with the emphasis on the former. The language of implementation reflects domestic political priorities - but what’s being done is essentially the same. Thailand may be focused on applying technology to education, flood prevention, and disaster management - whereas Indonesia is pushing ahead with consolidating government data centres and providing a common accounting platform for government. But look closer - Indonesia’s data centre consolidation is partially driven by a requirement to have disaster recovery centres established for all key agencies. Meanwhile Indonesia’s US$250 million move to a common accounting platform is intended to improve the productivity of central government spending in rural areas - which is the same driver as Thailand’s ambitious plans to overhaul education.

Central government is centralised, but… From the outside government looks so big, but it never feels that way when you’re inside the corridors of power looking out. It is hard to underestimate the tension between departments when they are called to collaborate - which explains why collaboration remains so infrequent. I asked a Director-General of one Finance department whether he’d compared notes with his counterparts from other agencies in government, as I knew that they were approaching the same issue from a different angle. His response was that he didn’t care what other departments were doing, didn’t care what the central IT agency had recommended, and was happy to build his own team to oversee the project with minimal inputs from elsewhere. The same approach can be seen, sadly, with the growing turf war between India’s Planning Commission and the Ministry of Home Affairs over the status of the Unique ID Authority’s Aadhar card.

CIOs have been appointed, but… There’s a big difference between someone who is nominally, as opposed to functionally, the CIO of the organisation. This has a huge impact on an agency’s ability to digest and contextualise its technology options. Those countries with a pan-government CIO have a more mature approach to ICT deployment. For now nominal CIOs with other ‘primary’ job responsibilities remain in the majority. It can be a challenge to keep these nominal CIOs engaged with longterm, technically demanding projects.

These observations will have to do for now, but if you’re looking for a bit more meat, then look out for the first of the Country Intelligence Reports I mentioned earlier - the countries we’ll be covering each month are: Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, and The Philippines. Watch this space (as well as the weekly newsletter) for further details.

futuregov.asia

90 Percent of Passports to be e-Passports by 2016

Within five years 90 percent of passport holders will be using e-passports that integrate a smart card IC chip. This is one of the conclusions drawn from IMS Research's recent report “Electronic Government and Health Care ID Cards – World – 2011.” A rapid migration from paper or machine readable passports to smart card-based passports (complying with the ICAO standard for ePassports) started in 2007. This has led to nearly half of all passports now in use being e-passports.

“This trend is set to continue” stated the report author Alex Green. “There are still a few countries around the world that are not yet issuing e-passports. However, most have started and with the typical five to ten year replacement rates for passports, it is only a matter of time before all passports in circulation are e-passports.”

The report goes on to explore to what extent biometrics are being recorded on these e-passports. Interestingly, even for passports issued in 2010, in the majority of cases no biometric data is held on these secure ICs except for a digital image of the holders face. IMS Research forecast that this will change. “

By 2014, the situation is forecast to have been reversed” states Green. “By this time the majority of passports being issued will also include additional biometric data such a one or more finger print, iris scans, etc.”

The e-passport market is examined for 40 countries in IMS Research’s report “Electronic Government and Healthcare ID Cards – World – 2011.” Similar analysis is also provided for the national ID cards, healthcare cards, electronic driver’s licenses and a number of other government related card types.

thecuttingedgenews.com

Are ‘Cloud Hubs’ the Way of the Future?

greenfudge.org

The pressure of moving government applications into a cloud-computing environment is rapidly building as government agencies look to cut IT costs. According to a new report, the concept of “regional community cloud hubs” among government entities will greatly change the way state and local government procure cloud services.

The report, Best Practices: Regional Community Cloud Hubs — The New “Trickle Down” Effect That’s Boosting State and Local Computing by IDC Government Insights defines regional community cloud hubs as one government agency — most likely at the state level — that could serve as a host facility and offer cloud-computing services to other government agencies (most likely local governments), which can then be shared.

The host facility could then gain revenue by selling the cloud services to other government agencies, which in turn would help the host facility gain revenue to offset their own IT costs, according to the report. If local governments buy the cloud services from the host facility instead of looking for cloud services on their own, the cloud services could be purchased at a lower cost. Shawn McCarthy, an IDC Government Insights research analyst, said the concept of the cloud hub has already started to be used in states like Michigan and Utah and have been deemed successful. “They’re dipping their toe in the water saying, this is the way we want to start offering these things,” McCarthy said.

“The smaller governments seem interested because it allows them to get out of the infrastructure business, which can be very capital intensive and very maintenance intensive, so where we are is a toe over the starting line.”

McCarthy said for Utah’s case, the state began segmenting data storage for local government end users. By offering the data storage, some local governments showed interest in tapping into the available storage space. Eventually the state offered to host a server, which triggered more local governments to want to connect into the “hub.” Local governments are interested in moving systems such as applications used to manage its human resources information to the cloud because updating an existing system may cost more, McCarthy said. As the market for cloud computing evolves, local governments may want to look to see if other entities, particular surrounding ones, have a human resources application both entities can share through the cloud.

But providing the cloud doesn’t have to be the responsibility of the state governments. Through the regional community cloud hubs, vendors can play an important role in providing cloud space. McCarthy said state governments (the host facilities) could make agreements with cloud providers for cloud storage, offer the same services to local governments who want to join the hub, and negotiate costs down.

Because there are different types of private clouds, state governments that act as the hosting facilities could either host the private cloud with or without the use of a cloud vendor, McCarthy said. Although the concept of a regional community cloud hub is not quite a trend yet, McCarthy expects state and local governments to start adopting the practice within the next couple of years.

http://www.govtech.com/e-government/Are-Cloud-Hubs-the-Way-of-the-Future.html

How e-government can shape competitiveness

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves talks to T Magazine about two key elements of his country’s competitiveness: the use of IT to create effective e-government infrastructure and the institution of a flat income tax. Interview by Dr. Paul Kielstra

T Magazine: In your experience, how does e-government affect the way that government functions?

President Ilves: The most fundamental benefit is transparency. We have been living with that for 15 years, but you forget how rare it is. I was at an UN General Assembly meeting, listening to various heads of state saying that they had put expenditure [data] online. But that is only the very beginning of e-government.

How does it affect the work of government officials?

It has basically freed up a lot of civil servants. You don’t have people doing rote things that can be done by machines, which is important because our fundamental problem is our size. In my work, I’m not a passive recipient of e-government. Outside of Northern Europe and the United States, people don’t necessarily understand at the level of head of state that e-government is about the way people operate, not the technology. People who do understand this are those currently in their 30s.

I’ve been using an Apple Computer since 1983. The government was paperless by 1999. It’s not a big deal. I have a Facebook page, but that is trite. Anyone can do that. E-government has nothing to do with people in government having computers. It means you do things completely differently. For example, our health records are all on line. You are defrocking the priesthood of the medical profession.

The patient owns his own data in the marketplace. It’s not just government, though, it’s more a matter of the attitude of society. For example, I’m shocked when I have to pay to use Wi-Fi. In Estonia, it’s just there. My daughter sees what her homework is on e-school. It is all very normal when you are living there. For it to work, you must have a completely reliable ID system so that you can sign legal documents.

The other thing you need is a decentralized data system, not just one big computer. You have access to everything as the citizen; police can access your police records; doctors can access your health records; but the tax authorities, say, cannot access your health records. You are the owner of the data. Another reason it works is that, basically people think it’s cool.

After nearly two decades of experience with the flat tax, what do you see as the benefits and drawbacks of such a system in practice?

The flat tax has been adopted by many countries. Some places it has worked, some it hasn’t. The real benefit is in compliance, which comes from having a very simple computer-based tax return. This is where we differ from all kinds of countries.

Where there are complicated tax schemes, people don’t pay taxes. There are not any major down sides. If you have a complex tax system and 37 million loopholes, so that you can make billions and still pay low taxes but the average guy pays whatever percent, then maybe the flat tax is more equitable than a progressive tax. An empirical study should be done. The problem is that many people like the idea of progressive taxes and soaking the rich, but it doesn’t really happen.

Estonia has a reputation for being one of the least corrupt countries in Eastern and Central Europe. How has your country been able to get a handle on this issue?
This is intimately related to e-government. It is the result of transparency. If you have e-tenders, for example, it is much harder to be corrupt. The only place where we have a corruption problem is at the level of local governance, where the national parliament can’t legislate transparency. How much transparency you have there is a local decision. Preconceptions also need to change. The image has existed for 70 years about Eastern Europe, that its countries are poor, backward and corrupt. It’s time to get over it. Look at Estonia and look at some other European countries [and compare] the corruption levels, debt, and deficit spending.

Estonia adopted the Euro at the start of this year. Was this a case of bad timing or do the long-term benefits still outweigh the risks?

We’ll see what happens with the Euro zone, but for the short-term the benefit for us has been that it meant the re-establishment of investor confidence in Estonia. It is kind of like a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. [In particular,] it has eliminated the threat of devaluation, which was the biggest threat of all, a forced devaluation which would have wiped out people’s [savings].

What lessons does your country’s recent experience of adopting austerity measures hold for other states?
Do what you think is doable. One of the things we did have, which others might not, was the equivalent of 10% of GDP in our reserves. This is a big buffer and we didn’t have to go to the IMF. I don’t know how to tell people to save, other than to say “save”. Also, the experience of life under the Soviet Union does make it easier. It is still in historical memory. Anyone over 25 in Estonia remembers the Soviet Union and how awful it was. Compared to that, [austerity] isn’t so bad.

Estonia recently dropped to 24th position from the 18th in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report. Was this fair?

They forgot to convert the currency. We have an open economy and are very dependent on exports. When reputable sources give stupid news, we suffer. You are about the 17th person who has asked me about that. The World Bank was completely irresponsible. Can you imagine if you did this in a company or a government?

This article was first published in Issue 06 of Ernst & Young´s T Magazine publication which will be available January 25 2012 on this website.

http://tmagazine.ey.com

Forthcoming Soon: United Nations e-Government Survey 2012

The 2012 version of the United Nations (UN) eGovernment Survey series is about to go out in the coming few days. Over the past few years, this report has gained a growing reputation as the most comprehensive reference for the state of eGovernment programs around the globe.For the UN, the report is a an important tool to promote eGovernment as an enabler for public sector advancement and to the global move towards achieving (or getting closer to) the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). In addition to its assessment of the current status of the eGovernment in each of the covered countries (192 UN member states in 2010), the report offers a review of the rising eGovernment trends and features some of the most important issues and success stories from around the world. The key theme of the 2010 edition was “ Leveraging e-government at a time of financial and economic crisis”.  

One important component of the survey report is the eGovernment Development Index which tries to quantify the state of eGovernment development in each member state covered by the report and put them ranked in one table for comparison purposes. 

The index is compromised of sub indexes cover areas of government online service index, telecommunication infrastructure index and human capital index. In addition, eParticipation was added as a supplementary index in the 2010 edition. In 2010 edition, the Arab states showed a great variance in their performance between the 13th rank (Bahrain) and the 184th position (Somalia). 

In 2012 edition, the survey will focus on “the role of e-government in sustainable development, including the promotion of social equity, economic growth and environmental protection”. On this blog, I’ll offer a comprehensive coverage and analysis of the forthcoming report in a series of articles and interviews with special focus on the profiles of the Arab states. 

http://govinthelab.com

Australia announces location-based emergency management system

Australia’s Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Robert McClelland, and Acting Victorian Premier Peter Ryan have unveiled an ambitious new revamp of the country’s national Emergency Alert telephone warning system. This revamp incorporates a “world-first” mobile emergency alert service, to be fully operational by November 2012, while tapping into carrier-class mobile communications networks.

The location-based mobile emergency alert service will send warnings to mobile phones that are physically in an emergency zone when a disaster strikes. Australia’s emergency warnings are currently limited to using a residential address associated with individual subscribers, as a result relying on outdated emergency notifications like radio warnings.

The upgraded mobile emergency alert will use location-based mobile communications services to send anywhere, anytime warnings directly to mobile phones using SMS. Minister McClelland says Victoria will lead the way by developing technology for a national location-based telephone emergency warning system. Acting Victorian Premier Peter Ryan says this new technology has no national or international precedent. The mobile emergency alert service, when fully operational, will subscribe to mobile communications networks through carrier arrangements.

This emergency alert upgrade adds another layer of safety to existing warnings across cities, towns and regional areas. This location-based warning system will use SMS as one feature of Australia’s emergency management services, enabling affected communities to get alerts in real-time, regardless of their location.

The new service will be complemented by traditional radio and emergency services website updates. In December last year, McClelland canvassed community feedback on its emergency messaging systems, including a Common Alerting Protocol.

This protocol would enable emergency messages to be sent out simultaneously over different warning systems including radio, television, smartphones, email and social media. Minister McClelland also launched a DisasterWatch app for iPhone and Android smartphones last year.

DisasterWatch offers communities up-to-the-minute public information about disaster via direct feeds from official state, territory and national sources. This week’s Commonwealth and Victorian Government mobile communications initiative comes in the wake of the Victorian bushfires in late 2009. More than 173 people died during these bushfires, leading to a Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission inquiry.

This inquiry recommended streamlining Australia’s emergency alert capabilities, while reaching out more quickly to widely dispersed communities. Telstra has been awarded a contract for the latest Commonwealth and Victorian government emergency alert upgrade – with negotiations underway with other carriers.

.futuregov.asia

UK “Behind Europe” In 3-D Mapping

The UK is falling behind the leading European nations in implementing a national 3-D mapping framework, a leading practitioner has told E-Government Bulletin. Carsten Rönsdorf, corporate data manager at the UK’s national mapping agency Ordnance Survey, told E-Government Bulletin the UK is “quite a bit behind” several other European countries and parts of the rest of the world including the Middle East, Asia and the US, in creating a national framework using the “CityGML” standard.

CityGML was developed by the International Open Geospatial Consortium, building on its two-dimensional GML (Geography Markup Language) standard. It has applications in a wide range of areas from tourism to urban planning, city management, environmental protection, training and real estate management.

However use of CityGML in 3-D mapping in the UK to date has been fragmented, Rönsdorf said. A number of projects have successfully created 3-D citymodels which are not based on CityGML such as the Glasgow Urban Model regeneration project, a 3-D representation of the city centre and River Clyde corridor, or the “Virtual London” project of the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at UCL.

But “there is a danger that authorities spent a lot of money on a project that serves one particular purpose, and end up with results that are not sustainable – these one-off models often don’t play with some of the other resources they have”, Rönsdorf said.

In contrast, almost every German city has a CityGML model; and the national mapping agencies in France and the Netherlands are working on projects, he said. For Great Britain, his own organisation Ordnance Survey could create a national framework independent of area, allowing other public or private bodies to add in local detail as it developed, he said. Such activity was likely to come initially from the business districts of larger cities: “there might be more money to create nicer looking models for central London, for example.”

The OGC is an international consortium of more than 430 companies, government agencies, research bodies and universities to develop publicly available standards to “geo-enable” the web and wireless services. The consortium’s communications director Steven Ramage said many UK local authorities are already using at least some of the 33 OGC open standards for tasks such as web mapping, though CityGML is a newer standard.

“Glasgow is quite far ahead, but there are other areas where people are using 3-D information for things like planning purposes, noise mapping and 3-D city modelling, looking at things like trees, geological sub-surfaces, building information modelling.

There are lots of potential environmental applications.” Last year the consortium created a category of membership for local and regional government, GovFuture, offering bodies access to best practice materials and resources, Ramage said. “I’m hoping as open data, open source, open government all develops [that UK public sector bodies] understand the need for open standards.”

NOTE: Article originally published in E-Government Bulletin issue 344.

Jordan govt to set up firm to finish national broadband grid

Jordan's government said that it will establish a company to complete the National Broadband Network project, The Jordan Times reported online. The new firm will be owned by the government, by telecoms operators and by ISPs. Minister of Information and Communications Technology Bassem Roussan said that the ministry will complete the required legal measures and refer them to the Cabinet for final approval next week in order to go ahead with the creation of the firm

Roussan said work on the project halted in 2008 when Jordan was hit hard by the global financial crisis. He said the completion of the project is a must as many e-government services, e-curricula for schools and telemedicine providers rely on the network.

Roussan said that the scheme will be finished in a maximum of three years. Residents of rural areas will then have access to the internet at schools connected to the network. According to the ICT ministry, about 35 percent of the project has been completed to date at a total cost of USD 36 million.

Roussan said that another company will be set up to promote e-government services and look into other e-services needed by citizens. This firm will be 51 percent-owned by the government with private sector companies owning the rest.

telecompaper.com

Broadband operators are at risk of becoming dumb–pipe providers

LTE is rapidly gaining momentum in the Middle Eastern region. With new LTE deployments and commercial network launches that took place in Saudi Arabia from Zain Saudi, STC, Mobily, and the UAE from Etisalat, LTE subscriptions will grow at an average annual growth rate of 200 per cent. Global LTE subscriptions are racing ahead of initial expectations. They have already passed 3.7 million in the third quarter of 2011, spanning over 36 worldwide networks. The deployment of FTTH services has been steadily growing and boasting speeds of up to 1Gbps, as in the case of the incumbent operator STC in Saudi Arabia. Also, the take-up of IPTV services is noticeable, with the focus of operators such as the Saudi incumbent on international expansion.

Faster speeds and increasingly affordable broadband access has fostered development of a digital economy, encompassing government services (e-government), e-health, e-education and e-commerce. In Qatar, for instance, strategies and specific initiatives have been launched in the areas of e-commerce, e-government, e-health and e-education.

The regulator has also unveiled plans to develop Qatar as a digital media hub, recognising the current underrepresentation of Arabic content on the Internet and hence the potential for growth. Kuwait has also taken steps to develop a digital economy; national level policies for e-health and e-government have been developed, with a number of services available online. For countries that have been lagging behind in the rollout of broadband services like Lebanon, the market is set to enter a new growth phase centred on mobile data services after the two mobile network operators launched the overdue 3G services in 2011, deploying HSPA+ network infrastructure. DSL speeds have also been increased to a minimum of 1Mbps.

Are broadband networks finally catching up with the technological aspirations of consumers, businesses and public bodies?

Reliable and fast broadband networks are paving the road for a new breed of technological solutions based on the so-called Cloud Computing offers demanded by consumers, businesses and public bodies. Cloud Computing technology is being widely adopted worldwide due to its low cost, scalability, security, etc.

Cloud Computing solutions rely on fast broadband access between the end-user and the cloud in order to provide full functionality and features, in addition to remote management. It is noted that in developed countries, cloud computing is growing fast due to the availability of high-speed and robust broadband connections.

In developing countries, cloud computing is a great tool for development in multiple sectors such as education, industrial, financial and telecommunication; however, these goals cannot be achieved where broadband is not fast, reliable and secure. Yet, we note the landing of several broadband submarine fibre-optic cables in MEA and Africa (e.g. IMEWE, WACS, ACE, etc) promises to bring increased connectivity to the region

Will consumers ever fill their super-fast broadband pipes?

Consumers tend to demand more capacity for cheaper prices. Trends show that they are willing to accept offers for new and innovative services. On the operators’ side, as owners of the super-fast broadband pipes, the challenge is to find those services and market them to the “right” customers.

Network providers and operators have an abundance of customer data that enables them to collect a variety of information on user behaviour. Such information could be utilised in building commercial offers, leading to the marketing of the right products to the right customers and eventually raising the demand for and the consumption of broadband pipes.

Service providers are beginning, rightfully, to shift their focus from being mere voice and Internet-pipe providers to working on the right partnerships with application/content providers, in an attempt to tap the potential revenue associated with new, Internet-based services. This is becoming a necessity for them in order to compete in the market and continue to afford the CAPEX and OPEX expenditures required to keep up with increased demand for network upgrades and faster broadband pipes.

What do you think will prove to be the killer application that creates demand for super-fast broadband?

The definition of ‘super-fast broadband’ varies from one country to the other. In some countries such as the UK, super-fast broadband services should be able to deliver more than is currently possible over existing copper telephone lines (i.e. faster than ADSL2+, which tops out at 24Mbps), whereas in other countries, such as South Korea, the speed is 100Mbps. I am not sure as to what will be considered the killer application.

To some, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is gaining momentum as an important application for the next-generation Internet and will provide exciting new revenue opportunities for service providers. Internet Protocol television (IPTV) provides digital television services over Internet Protocol (IP) for residential and business users at a lower cost. These IPTV services include commercial grade multicasting TV, video on demand (VoD), triple play, voice over IP (VoIP), and Web/email access, well beyond traditional cable television services.

IPTV is a convergence of communication, computing, and content, as well as an integration of broadcasting and telecommunication. To others, over-the-top (OTT) video services such as YouTube and Facebook are more popular.

These services refer to video, television and other services provided over the Internet rather than via a service provider’s own dedicated, managed IPTV network. OTT is delivered directly from provider to viewer using an open internet/broadband connection, independently of the viewer’s ISP, without the need for carriage negotiations and without any infrastructure investment on the part of the provider.

What technical challenges lie ahead for the broadband industry?

In developing countries including Lebanon, the main technical challenge for the broadband industry is to cater for advanced backbone and access infrastructures in order to cope with the increasing demand for higher broadband capacities.

Building a robust national and access infrastructure including FTTx requires significant public and private investments. Often public funding and/or subsidies are needed to maintain acceptable Return On Investment (ROI) for the private sector. Moreover, serving rural areas continues to be a challenge.

New solutions are being adopted such as public access femtocells, which are cost effective and easy to integrate, especially for remote areas where the backhaul connection could be provided via DMW or satellite. As mentioned earlier, service providers and operators should tap the application/content business through partnerships and/or acquisitions of existing application/content providers. while benefiting from the operators’ visibility on customer behaviour to create innovative products and services.

How big a challenge does over-the-top video pose to broadband operators and networks?
Broadband service providers and operators are at risk of becoming dumb–pipe providers utilised by so-called over-the-top (OTT) application/content providers such as YouTube, Google, Facebook, etc.

Even though revenues from OTT are small in comparison to those from new IPTV service offerings, they still represent a missed opportunity for service providers. Some suggest that the best approach for operators is to negotiate partnerships with OTT providers.

One way to do that would be to charge for content delivery and guarantee quality of service for certain types of OTT traffic. This could be paid for by either the content provider or by the end-user. However, it remains questionable whether giant OTT providers are willing to enter into such agreements with much smaller service providers.

How can network operator’s best monetise their investments in super-fast broadband networks?
Again, with the rise of application/content providers, network operators may become mere data “pipe” providers, selling only the broadband capacity with no significant ROI. Network operators have many options to avoid such a situation.

The first option is to avoid competition with those providers by delivering an extra layer of value that only they can provide. This layer is based on using data analysis, such as Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), which leads to “customer experience visibility”, resulting in huge opportunities in the advertising world such as targeted ads.

The second option is to leverage the network policy capabilities the network operators have, to deliver an enhanced video streaming service for partners that want to guarantee a certain QoS for their customers.

A revenue sharing model might be used in this case. The last option is to benefit from the synergy created by the partnership with (or the acquisition of) existing application/service providers, allowing the creation of dynamic providers that possess customer visibility and application/content exposure.

How can telecoms regulators further support the MEA region’s burgeoning broadband business?
Governments and telecom operators should promote policies that encourage partnerships, especially in the rollout of services like FTTH. Also, because of the huge cost in the rollout of fibre infrastructure, some governments subsidise investments in fibre infrastructure in the same way they do for other utilities like roads and highways, as is the case in Australia and USA.

In addition, regulators and policy makers may consider transforming existing universal service programs into programs for digital inclusion that support broadband services for all citizens. Policy makers and regulators have several options to provide incentives for the private sector to invest in broadband, such as by adopting enabling policies, simplifying licensing regimes (licensing regulation can be simplified and a unified licensing framework can be introduced with all services unified under a single license or concession), making available more spectrum, reducing regulatory obligations and barriers to broadband build-out and access to broadband networks (e.g. by adopting rules or promoting policies and incentives that encourage infrastructure sharing, particularly involving passive sharing of towers, ducts and other support facilities), and offering tax incentives (reduce taxes on services, devices and equipment which will in turn increase penetration levels and pave the way for increased demand of broadband services).

Policy makers and regulators should also stimulate innovation and the development of applications and services by nurturing the creation and adoption of applications, services and digital content (for instance, the wide diffusion of e-government and e-finance applications and services will considerably raise consumer demand for broadband). Moreover, private investment in research and development (R&D) should be encouraged by all possible means.

It is also essential to protect intellectual property, as this empowers researchers and inventors to lead the way to a smart and innovative digital economy. Innovation can be encouraged through intellectual property regimes that balance monopoly use of inventions with building a rich public domain of intellectual materials.

Regulators and policy makers have a role to play in promoting a first-class training system in all countries to provide creative human resources. It is crucial to facilitate investment in all forms of education, notably in the area of R&D, ICT knowledge transfer and the development of digital applications and content (in particular those related to the local culture).

Sufficient and sustainable funding should be provided to universities, computer labs and other public research institutions, leveraging international partnerships when possible and advantageous.

Dr. Hoballah will be speaking at the Broadband World Forum MEA 2012 event, taking place in Dubai in March 2012.

.telecoms.com

Seoul Proves Value of Advanced e-Government

“Seoul City is pushing for ‘Smart Seoul 2015’ for the qualitative happiness of its citizens from 2011 to 2015,” says Dr. Hwang Jong-sung, Assistant Mayor for Information Technology (CIO) of Seoul Metropolitan government. “Seoul’s budget for informatization in 2011 stood at 129,501 million won, accounting for 0.63% of Seoul’s total budget. The Seoul e-government consists of a front office, a back office and additional infrastructure. The e-Seoul Net is an exclusive high-speed information and telecommunication network which links the Main Building of Seoul City Hall, its branch offices, affiliated organizations and Gu (district) offices with an aim toward realizing an e-government. u-Seoul Net is a telecommunication network that offers audio-visual and Internet (data) services such as traffic and CCTV information. The core of Seoul’s informatization project in the future is to carry out the Smart Seoul 2015 project.

The Smart Seoul 2015 project is a pre-emptive and active informatization plan as 80% of Seoul citizens are expected to use smartphones or smart devices and 30% are expected to purchase smart TVs in 2015. “We are planning to make Seoul the “best smart technology city” in the world in 2015,” Dr. Hwang continues.

The Smart Seoul 2015 project will expand Seoul’s smart infrastructure, help more people enjoy advanced IT services, provide Seoul City services through smart devices, create jobs, enhance the level of information security and realizing the finest e-government in the world.

“So, we expect that advanced IT technologies will be applied to all sectors in citizens’ life and even senior citizens will make use of smart devices and applications after receiving education in 2015,” Dr. Hwang adds. The city is also planning to reduce its crime rate by expanding CCTV monitoring.

“We are also planning to promote a Seoul-friendly application business industry and establish an incubator center in the Sangam-dong IT complex,” Dr. Hwang reveals. The Seoul Metropolitan government is providing various information and online services through the Internet and smartphones and is steadily upgrading services by collecting opinions of citizens.

The e-government service of Seoul City is divided into three major parts – strong communication with citizens, convenient services for citizens and addressing negative impacts of informatization. A main communication channel between Seoul and citizens is the official web site of Seoul City. The web site offers comprehensive services for citizens including electronic civil petitions, news of the Seoul government and the participation of citizens.

The web site is also connected to web sites of the central government and relevant organizations. Of late, the site has been renewed for three kinds of visitors (general citizens, business people, and tourists). In addition to the regular web site of Seoul City, the city is offering mobile portal services in eight sectors.

Furthermore, advanced smartphone applications of Seoul City provides citizens with information on restaurants, TBS broadcasting, travel, location of public rest rooms and taxi-call service. Moreover, the city is distributing PCs for marginalized people who do not have PCs so that they can use information services at home. For visually challenged people and the disabled, the city distributes magnifying devices and Braille terminals.

Other activities include repairing PCs, implementing projects to prevent people from Internet addiction, Internet counseling and free ubiquitous study programs. The excellence of Seoul e-government was duly recognized in the evaluation of e-governments by reliable organizations. For example, Seoul e-government came in first for four years running in the evaluation of the Evaluation of the World’s 100 Cities.”

“The Seoul e-government became a benchmarking object for countries and cities around the world,” Dr. Hwang adds. “Foreign public officials, businessmen and scholars have visited Seoul City to observe its e-government system and facilities.”

“We are planning to publicize the excellence of Seoul's e-government system and contribute to the development of other e-governments by exchanging and cooperating with cities around the world,” Dr. Hwang explains. “At the same, the plan is aimed at addressing a digital divide problem among people and helping Korean ICT companies make a foray into overseas markets.”

Seoul becomes chair of World e-Government Organization (WeGo)

Accordingly, the Seoul government has laid the foundation by holding its World e-Government Market Forum in 2008. Finally in September 2010, the World e-Government Organization (WeGO) was established with Seoul as chair city. Since then, the Seoul government is playing the role of the leader for e-governments in the world.

The number of the member cities of the WeGO is 50, including big cities of the U.S., Canada, France and developing countries in Africa. The members cooperate with one another via the WeGO. Of late, the WeGO has surged in popularity internationally.

For example, three cities have recently applied for membership. The Seoul Metropolitan Government suggests distributing its e-government standard framework to member cities of the WeGO in a meeting of the Managing Committee of the WeGO held in Barcelona of Spain in last October. The suggestion was adopted.

The Seoul e-government has become an excellent e-government benchmarking target for countries around the world. Over the past three years, 893 people from 155 countries came to Seoul to observe and learn about the Seoul e-government. The Seoul government signed MOUs on exchange and cooperation on e-government with 11 overseas cities with the purpose of promoting friendship and enhancing the value of its global brand through communication marketing for the Seoul e-government and laying the foundation for Korean IT companies’ making a foray into overseas markets on the foundation of its world-class information infrastructure and experiences in various informatization projects.

“In particular, we carried out feasibility studies on e-government with leading Korean IT companies in Hanoi of Vietnam, Nairobi of Kenya and Katmandu of Nepal, which helped the cities map out informatization master plans,” Dr. Hwang adds.

“These efforts have paid off. The Tanzanian government is building its own system by applying the e-government model of Seoul to it. We have also contributed to the informatization of developing countries and helped Korean IT companies make inroads into overseas markets. This means Seoul’s position is rising as an advanced IT city.” “We will steadily publicize the excellence of the Seoul e-government internationally and contribute to the development of e-governments around the world through MOUs and to addressing the digital divide problem.

At the same time, we will help Korean companies tap into overseas markets,” Dr. Hwang detailed. Of late, the inauguration ceremony for the new Seoul mayor Park Won-soon attracted eyes of people and mass media as it was done online.

The online ceremony was broadcast live through the Internet from 11:00 to 11:40 am on November 16 of 2011. During the broadcast, Mayor Park opened his office room, pledge allegiance to the nation, delivered his inauguration speech and took questions from citizens through SNS. About 75,000 people watched the Internet broadcasting live and 5,000 questions or opinions were sent to the mayor through SMS.

In addition, about 8,000 people watched the ceremony on their mobile devices. “The online inauguration ceremony was successfully held with a smaller budget compared to previous authoritarian and formal ceremonies, suggesting a new model of inauguration ceremonies for government organizations, companies and groups,” Dr. Hwang says.

koreaittimes.com

DELHI POLICE LAUNCHES E-CRIME INITIATIVE

India’s National Capital police force has recently launched an e-crime initiative on its website that will allow residents to have better involvement in policing and public safety.Dubbed as the “Know Your Police Station” programme, the web platform, which was developed in collaboration with Microsoft, will help residents find out the jurisdiction of a particular police station on a GIS map.

  

In addition, users will also be able to access a particular Station House Officer’s (SHO) profile containing his photograph and contact details. A feedback provision is also provided in the platform so as to engage citizens to provide information to their SHO about crime prone areas, any organised crimes, and accident prone areas. 

“This is part of our progressive, innovative, and responsive policing policy and will soon be available as an application on smart phones,” said Delhi Police Commissioner BK Gupta.

futuregov.asia

Government Cloud Computing launched

.NetApp, Cisco, VMware, Microsoft and CAT Telecom have joined the government cloud-computing initiative, whereby a new information-technology platform will be designed to pool resources and reduce the government's IT spending. Information and Communications Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap said at the launch today that the scheme should help reduce the government's IT spending by at least 30 per cent, while ensuring regularly updated technology as well as advancement in electronics-based public services.

 

He noted that each year, government units spent nearly Bt50 billion on hardware and software, but they ended up buying old but pricey technology. Asia-Pacific countries such as Australia have deployed cloud computing to provide services to their citizens. 

Many Thai and foreign private firms in Thailand have also adopted the cloud-computing system, so it is inevitable that government agencies will begin to adopt this technology, he added. He said the use of cloud computing would enhance Thailand's image in terms of technology and boost its competitive edge in terms of public services. 

Under the government cloud-computing platform, computer systems and networks could also be relocated from risky areas to protect electronic data. Much electronic data was damaged during the flood disaster. The Electronic Government Agency will be in charge of a pilot project that will pave the way for national implementation in April. 

The three-month pilot project will encompass 10 government units. The initiative aims to reduce IT spending and energy use as well as promote the e-government concept and public services, Anudith said. The Electronic Government Agency is estimating the cost involved. According to the agency, the government's IT spending last year totalled Bt59.8 billion. Of the total, spending on data centres and the disaster recovery centre topped Bt2.6 billion, excluding the cost of hiring experts and equipment. 

nationmultimedia.com

MALAYSIA LAUNCHES ELECTRICITY SUPPLY APPLICATION E-SERVICE

Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysia’s state grid, has introduced an e-service called ‘e-Application’ for residents and businesses to apply for electricity supply online.The application also helps customers monitor the status of their applications and verify documents. “It will quickly allow customers to decide on any follow-up action, if necessary, to speed up the application process,” according to TNB chief operating officer and chief executive Datuk Azman Mohd. 

 

Datuk Azman Mohd also said that the system would not only assist developers in managing their request for electricity supply but also help TNB in planning for the future. 

E-Application will also facilitate the sharing of information with registered TNB contractors registered with the Energy Commission. Customers, by selecting contractors through the online service, will not run the risk of engaging unauthorized contractors.

.futuregov.asia

SINGAPORE INTRODUCES E-SERVICE FOR CONVEYANCING

Singapore has introduced a new electronic service to enhance the conveyancing workflow, according to its Ministry of Law.Singapore Land Authority’s ‘Electronic Payment Instruction’ or ‘ePI’ service will enable lawyers to notify banks of the details of conveyancing money paid through electronic means instead of hard copy forms.

 

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, the state’s tax office, will also accept electronic stamp duty payments through ePI, streamlining the conveyancing transaction workflow and reducing processing time. In August last year (2011), the country introduced measures to regulate how lawyer can receive and hold conveyancing money, in an attempt to protect such funds. 

The measures required lawyers to hold conveyancing money in conveyancing accounts with one of the seven specially appointed banks. 

futuregov.asia

Pemerintah Korea Integrasikan Data Center, Tetapkan Patok Ukur Baru Pada IT E-Government ( Bagian 2 - selesai)

Negara-Negara Berkembang Meniru NCIA

TheWhir : Korea's data center consolidation efforts have resulted in nearly $60 million in cost savings

Dengan pengakuan beskala dunia yang disematkan pada model GIDC disain NCIA, GIDC produksi Korea bangkit menjadi sebuah tolak ukur bagi negara-negara berkembang yang dalam proses pengenalan atau penyebaran sistem-sistem e-Government. Lebih dari 1000 pejabat pemerintah  yang berasal  lebih dari seratus negara telah melakukan kunjungan ke NCIA sejak 2007. Mereka ingin mempelajari lebih mendalam berbagai layanan inovatif e-Government Korea dan pengetahuan operasioanlya yang sangat maju. 

Sebelumnya : Bagian 1

Hampir semua pejabat negara tamu yang datang mengunjungi adalah pejabat dengan posisi-posisi yang tinggi di suatu kementerian yang bertanggungjawab untuk mengembangkan berbagai kebijakan e-Government atau eksekusi kebijakan-kebijakan tersebut di semua badan pemerintah. Beberapada dari pejabat tersebut termasuk Menteri Energi Brunei, Menteri Informasi dan komunikasi Mongolia dan Sekjen Kabinet UAE. 

Mereka sedang mempertimbangkan pembangunan sistem e-Government di negaranya dengan menjadikan GIDC Korea sebagai modelnya dan mempelajari pengetahuan pelaksanaan NCIA dalam manajemen data center. Mereka ingin mengetahui bagaimana NCIA meningkatkan stabilitas dan efisiensi sistem dan membawa berbagai manfaat ekonomi melaui integrasi. Sejumlah perusahan IT Korea telah menyebut NCIA (GIDC) sebagai salah satu komoditas ekspor solusi-solusi e-Government Korea yang menjanjikan sebagaimana yang diperlihatkan sebuah survei oleh sebuah badan pemerintah baru-baru ini. 

Mengekspor Model GIDC

Meningkatnya minat dari negara-negara lain terhadap sistem e-Government adalah sebuah tanda yang positif bagi perusahaan-perusahan IT Korea yang ingin memasuki pasar-pasar luar negeri. NCIA berupaya untuk membagi pengalaman-pengalamannya dengan negara-negara lain yang ingin membangun sebuah sistem e-Government yang matang dengan mengikutsertakan perusahaan -perusahaan lokal. 

Pemerintah Korea telah sukses mengekspor berbagai solusi e-Government senilai USD235 juta untuk area perpajakan, pengadaan barang dan jasa sektor pemerintah dan sistem-sistem Bea Cukai selama tahun 2011. 

Pemerintah Vietnam telah mengajukan pijaman ke EDCF (Economic Development Cooperation Forum) pemerintah Korea untuk membangun GIDC di Hanoi. Indonesia, Filipina dan Kenya juga sedang mempertimbangkan untuk memperkenalkan GIDC berbasiskan moedel Korea di negaranya masing-masing. 

GIDC model Korea diharapkan dapat membangkitkan minat yang luas pada negara-negara lainnya. NCIA berencana untuk menawarkan berbagai konsultasi aspek-aspek pengoperasian dan keamanan yang dilakukan dalam pengembangan GIDC Korea. 

Kebanyakan permintaan kini datang dari negara-negara yang saat ini mengoperasikan data center atau sedang merencanakan untuk membangun proyek-proyek terkait. NCIA berencana untuk mentransfer teknologi dan pengetahuan pelaksanaan dengan penandatanganan berbagai MOU dan melakukan berbagai proyek bersama seperti mengundang insinyur-insinyur asing untuk datang ke Korea dan menyediakan berbagai program Pelatihan Kerja, dan mengadakan berbagai seminar kolaboratif untuk berbagai pengetahuan. 

Berbagai Upaya yang sedang dijalankan untuk Mempromosikan Solusi-Solusi E-Government Korea

NCIA telah membuka fasilitas pamer e-Government Korea pada 30 November 2011. Fasilitas ini akan memfasilitasi pengenalan sistem e-Government Korea kepada semua tamu dari luar negeri. "Drama-drama Korea, Lagu-lagu pop Korea beserta filem-filemnya telah begitu populer di luar negeri. 

Orang menyebutnya sebagai "Gelombang Korea". Dan belakangan ini Sistem e-Government Korea jiga menjadi sebuah ekspor Gelombang Korea yang prospektif. Jumlah pengunjung luar negeri yang ingin belajar sistem e-Government Korea meningkat. 

Itu sebabnya kami memutuskan untuk membuat fasilitas pamer sistem e-Government. Pameran ini menghadirkan 10 best practice dari 1000-an lebih layanan-layanan e-Government seperti pajak, Bea Cukai dan pengadaan. Para tamu juga memiliki sebuah kesempatan untuk merasakan berbagai solusi e-Government. Fasilitas pameran ini dioperasikan melaui kemitraan dengan NCIA, berbagai badan pemerintah terkait, dan berbagai perusahaan swasta yang terlibat dalam pengembangan GDIC. 

Martin Simamora | koreaittimes.com